


Toon World

by hystericalmode



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Alternate Universe, Henry's also kinda heartless, Manipulative Bendy, Obsessive Behavior, Swearing, and an asshole, bendy's a smart ass, bendy's also kinda heartless, cartoon violence, he does become a toon, henry's a stoic ass, sort of Toon Henry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-01-21 18:53:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12463779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hystericalmode/pseuds/hystericalmode
Summary: In this AU, the ink machine doesn't exist, Joey isn't batshit crazy(that's debatable) and everything is peaceful and normal.Except the part where Joey accidently sends Henry into Toon World. A place where everyone is happy and innocent.Except the characters are slightly less than pure.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Henry and Joey are in their twenty's and they still make cartoons but Joey isn't as obsessive as he is in the game. 
> 
> Henry's also more heartless but i think that's just because he's doesn't really give a shit.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Toon World

 

"Joey, what the hell are you doing?" Henry asked while watching the other man busily work. The bowl of popcorn he had in his hand tipped slightly, letting a few crumble to the clean floor.

Today was a Saturday. One of the few days where the two men would usually relax, take a break, and enjoy life. It's a day Henry could honestly say he looked forward to, so seeing Joey- his long time friend/boss- painting complicated shapes on the wooden ground in his attic was concerning. 

Honestly he was more concerned about the type of paint the other was using rather than whatever satanic drawings Joey was doodling. He hopes it isn't permanent.

Joey glances at him before resuming to paint. "I told you I had a surprise for you." He stated before reaching for a ruler to make a straight line.

Henry frowned. The hell? "You asked if I wanted a surprise and I said no. You then went to use the bathroom and left me alone for twenty minutes so I went to check up on you." Emerald eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I thought you fell in the toilet and got stuck again."

"That was one time! It's not my fault your toilet's too big." Joey exclaimed before motioning for Henry to sit next to him, which he does. "You'd fall too if your ass wasn't abnormally fat. Seriously, what have you been eating?" He mumbles under his breath but it's obvious he doesn't care if Henry heard or not.

The brunette stares at his friend for a moment before focusing his attention to Joey's 'surprise'.

Now that he's closer, he can see that it's much more detailed and complicated in design. From what he could tell, it's a large circle with lines neatly overlapping each other and some shapes here and there with a hint of a swirl in each stroke. Some of the lines are thick while others are thin and curvy, like some sort of picasso art or something. It certainly hurt his brain just by looking at it.

Turning his head to blink away the designs he rubs his eyes. "If you really wanted to paint you could've just asked for a damn canvas. You're lucky no one ever comes up here or else people would think I'm worshipping some type of alien of the second dimension or something. I don't want the neighbors to think that I am less than sane."

"Yeah, heaven forbid normal people find out how you really are." Joey replies dryly as he gives Henry a piece of crinkled paper. "Here. Make yourself useful and draw these symbols. Lines and shapes are easy but these squiggly lines are a whole new level for me."

Henry puts his bowl of popcorn down to the side before taking the offered paper. It's a bit on the yellow side, like one of those ancient egyptian papers he's seen in museums. Plus the edges and corners of the paper seemed torn off and even burned in some places. Despite this, the pictures and symbols on the page itself is in perfect condition. 

Rather ominous to be honest.

So naturally Henry was cautious. "Exactly what am I summoning here? A five headed monster to take over mankind or a demonic entity ready to start the end of the world?" 

Joey had the nerve to chuckle at him. "Geez Henry, do I look like someone who would do something like that? Don't answer that." The blonde responded quickly when Henry opened his mouth to reply. "I'll explain but only if you draw the symbols first."

Henry narrowed his eyes. "We'll do it at the same time." His tone told Joey that he was willing to fight for this compromise. 

Luckily Joey just shrugged. "Ok. That sounds fair."

While Henry got another brush, Joey started telling his story. "Last week when I went to get groceries, there was an old man sitting in a pile of trash in an allyway about a block away from the store. He asked me some rather cryptic questions and he seemed to know a lot about me despite the fact that we've never met..." He trailed off and stared blankly at his lines. Henry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course, NOW Joey would question his decisions after it didn't matter anymore.

"... Anyway turns out that he wasn't sitting in trash, it was just junk he was trying to sell. I didn't want to be rude so I started looking around and after a while I came across that." He gestured lazily to the paper. Henry paused, paint brush held in mid air as he thought about what Joey said.

"Out of everything you saw, what made this so special?" Henry questioned and added a swirl to his rune (because that's what this was, Henry realized). 

"Well, the paper was inside a rather impressive picture frame but I accidently broke it on the way over here. It's in your front yard if you want to see it." Joey answered nonchalantly while ignoring the other's exasperated look. "I honestly thought this was a normal painting; y'know the kind you hang around in the house? As soon as I picked up the frame the old man started rambling about how I had a good eye for detail and that I was a 'wise and insightful' person to notice the painting."

Henry didn't know what to say to that so Joey continued. "We had a ten minute conversation and long story short, he convinced me to buy this."

"... That doesn't explain why you're painting this in my attic."

"I was getting to that. Apparently, different cults from all around the world used to perform this ritual to 'pass on to a better life'. First step is to mix paint with an ounce of ink and a drop of blood. Don't worry I already did that step." Joey reassured him and Henry gave the brush in his hand a look of utter disgust. "Second step is to paint this exact picture onto a secluded and flat surface, preferably a floor." The blonde lightly tapped the wooden floor for emphasis. "Last is to chant the spell to 'ignite the spirit of the chosen one's path'... Whatever that means. Sounds kinda poetic if ya ask me." He finished his lines and stood up to proudly look at his work. "Any questions?" 

"Yeah. What grocery store did you go to so I'll know to stay away from there."

"Henry, please, be serious."

Henry snorted. "I am. Besides that 'poem' sounds more damning than anything else. 'To pass on to a better life' sounds like death. If you want to die, just sign up for the army. Rumor has it that there's gonna be a major war overseas; just sign up for that and see if you get lucky."

Joey raises a brow in Henry's direction. "... I don't think that's what he meant. Maybe it's symbolism, like..." He licked his lips. "Like maybe you'll get some kind of spiritual enlightenment or see a glimpse of the future to chose better life choices."

"Too late for that." Henry replies as he adds the last details to his drawing. He tried to make the lines straight but it still ended up being a bit lopsided. Still, he did his best and he hopes that it's enough to send Joey to his 'special place'. "So where's the chant to send you to hell?" 

"On the back." Henry flips the paper and sure enough there's some sort of ancient language written on there. 

It honestly looked like a toddler had written the first letters that popped into their brain, slapped it on this paper, and called it writing. 

When he looked back up, Joey was already standing in the middle of the circle looking expectantly at him. 

"What?" 

"Give it here!" Joey replied enthusiastically while snatching the paper out of the brunette's grasp. He straightened the parcel as best as he could and gave Henry a smile. "Just back away a few steps. I don't want your corrupted thoughts so close to the circle that's suppose to make me blessed."

Henry gave him a blank stare but did as he was told. As soon as he backed away, Joey began the incantation. To anyone else it might've sounded impressive, but to Henry it sounded like Joey was imitating a pregnant whale. 

With nothing better to do, Henry casually picked up his forgotten bowl of popcorn and started eating while watching Joey make a fool of himself. After five minutes of this (with no results) nothing happened but Henry figured that it was better than any other alternative.

Hey, at least they didn't summon a demon...

"I don't get it..." Joey muttered to himself after his ninth (or was it his tenth?) try. The paper slipped out of his grasp and fell silently to the floor. "Something's suppose to happen..."

"You tarnished my attic is what happened." Henry replied calmly as he set his half empty bowl to the side and took a few steps towards the blonde. "C'mon Joey, be serious... Did you really think anything... Supernatural would've happened? Besides..." He shrugged while gently leading Joey away from the large circle. "Maybe it didn't work because you're already happy here...?"

Joey gave the brunette a small smile. "Heh... You're right... You're absolutely right... I've got everything I could possibly want right here." He squeezed Henry's hand in reassurance. He glanced back at the runes and frowned a little. "Damnit, I left the paper on the floor. I still want to hang that in my bathroom..."

"I'll get it." Henry volunteered as he turned back and walked towards the circle. 

As soon as he takes the first step in, the world seems to go unnaturally still, as if time seemed to stop. The air becomes thick and he can hardly breathe. The symbols, lines, and shapes beneath him flash a deep rich red before dulling back to its original black. 

The floor trembles in warning and the next thing he knows; he's falling. 

The world seems to come back to life as a low buzz echoes deeply within his skull. All around him colors flash in quick bursts. Red, green, blue, pink, purple, yellow, and orange; then the pattern starts all over again.

Just when he feels the bile rushing up his throat, the colors stop and he sees that there's a some sort of light at the bottom of his fall. As he gets closer he closes his eyes and braces for impact because he can already tell this was going to be one hell of a fall. 

Suddenly his body feels like it's being pulled backwards and his inertia from the fall is slowing down.

He falls on his ass and it doesn't hurt as much as he expected but it still stings a little. The sigils beneath him flash red before turning neutral. The drawing looked more like it was burned onto the ground rather than being painted on. Hissing under his breath he slowly looks up despite the headache pounding in his head and frowns in confusion.

It's a forest. An honest to goodness forest. Since coming to live in the city with his father as a child and continuing to live there as an adult, he barely remembers what a tree looks like, let alone an entire forest. He huffs a bit before carefully standing up, taking a few moments to stabilize himself before starting to move forward. 

He turns around to stare at the runes for a bit and he could've sworn that he could feel them staring right back. He quickly continued when the air around him shifts violently, like it was pressuring him to move on.

As nice as walking in the forest seemed calm and relaxing before, it now felt... Wrong. It wasn't so much as the atmosphere as it was the physical background. Everything looked so... Basic and simple. The trees, bushes, rocks, and even flowers looked the same and he could've sworn he saw the same lumpy cloud pass by ten times. 

Just as he thinks about turning back, he comes across a small pond. There's some simple lilypads with the occasional dragonflies flying here and there. They're too fast to see properly but he can tell that they're rather large and have an unusual color to them but he doesn't know much about dragonflies to be sure.

He makes his way to the pond (it's not like there's anywhere else to go) and when he catches a glimpse of his reflection he feels his heart stop. 

Before he realizes what's happening he finds himself on his knees leaning dangerously close to the water. He cautiously raises a hand and his stomach lurches when his strange reflection mimics the action. 

'Huh... Guess I'm a toon now...' He thinks vaguely as his thoughts become lightheaded just before he passes out.


	2. Chapter 2

Toon World

 

When he regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was gloved hands. His heartbeat quickened in slight panic as his gut felt heavy again.

Then he remembered seeing his reflection a few seconds later and his panic increased to full blown hysteria.

Fortunately being born a pessimistic asshole had its advantages, one of which was the power to overcome his emotions. No crying and sobbing for him, he had enough of that from his childhood.

He also had his dad to thank for teaching him not to lose his head in dire situations. That and he always was a rather emotionless person to begin with. Joey had even said that the background characters in their cartoon had more personality than him.

'Speaking of toons...'

Henry carefully scooted closer to the pond and bent down to look at his reflection. Yep. There he was, a fuckin' toon. Might as well embrace it, this was his life now.

He didn't have many personal opinions about his appearance considering he was now a cartoon. He thought he looked rather normal even in toon terms, though he did look more youthful and upbeat. Thankfully he kept his clothes from the real world (yep he was calling it that; how original) which consisted of a plain white dress shirt with black pants and a simple tie. The only thing extra added to him was the gloves, which fit him like a second skin. Oddly enough the only colors he was blessed with was black and white.

Frowning, Henry looked at the vibrant and prosperous surroundings then back to his dull reflection. The hell? Why was he black and white, while the rest of the background was colored?

He shrugged and realized he didn't really give a fuck and moved on from that subject. Better not to question things around here or else he would start facing reality and who knows how well that'll go.

One thing he knew for sure was it was going to be weird seeing his hair colored black when he's been a brunette all his life (at least he wasn't a blonde).

Oh well, no use thinking about that, it was out of his control. With that in mind he goes around the pond to continue his 'adventurous' journey across the woods. He passes by several woodland creatures who stare curiously at him (annoyingly enough, they're colored too).

'Am I the only one who isn't colored or is this just a human thing?' He thought rather depressingly before shifting his attention to the surroundings again. Despite its simplistic design and coloring, he had to admit that the amount of detail put into the background deserved some form of praise. Everything looked so... Perfect and happy.

He had to get the fuck out of here.

Not that that was going to be easy since the damn trees kept repeating themselves. If he was walking in circles he swore to the heavens that he was going to...

Oh look, a city.

Keeping his eyes on the prize, lest it disappeared, Henry quickly changed directions and headed for civilization or whatever form of 'civilized' existed in this crazy world. For all he knew the entire city itself could be sentient.

Putting that disturbing thought aside he walked more slowly but apparently distance was faster when one had a destination in mind because the next thing he knew, he was standing right outside the entrance of the city gates.

He looked up to read the towering sign:

Welcome to Toon Town

'Wait, town?! This place is huge! Are these people illiterate as well as uncreative?' Henry thought to himself as he looked at the busy streets filled with various characters.

Well, at least everone else was black and white too (maybe only sentient toons get boring colors?); That was a plus, now he didn't have to worry about mistaking people's identity and appearing rude. Not that he particularly cared what people thought of him.

A major difference he immediately noticed while walking with the buzzing crowd was that he was rather tall as a toon. Sure everyone came in varying shapes and sizes but he practically loomed over everyone. In fact the tallest toon he's seen so far went up to his shoulder but even that was a bit of a stretch.

It was like he was surrounded by a sea of dull toddlers.

To anyone else that choice of wording might've been amusing or dare he say it, cute, but Henry was far from impressed. He hated kids (despite making cartoons for a living) and being surrounded by them was not a past time he was willing to make.

Another difference he noticed was that he seemed to be the only human around. Every character was either an animal/item/mutant with human like qualities or some type of abomination that looked odd but not enough to really stand out. Not like him.

Nope. Not one of these characters were human.

He REALLY needed to get the fuck out of here.

Feeling paranoid upon discovering this rather obvious realization made him feel claustrophobic and clampy. Looking for a way out of the overwhelming crowd he saw a large sign a few feet ahead:

WEST PARK

That sounded nice right about now...

He made his way to the entrance rather easily as the crowd parted automatically for him since he was, most likely in the their world, a freak.

Not that that was news to him.

When he made it inside the park he could feel the tension easing out of his body. As he slowly relaxed he took the time to view his surroundings a little less critically.

'At least there are fewer creepily identical trees here, so that's a plus...' Henry thought, slightly relieved for a change of scenery. He'll just explore here for a while and once he's bored he'll give the city another shot.

"Hello there! I haven't seen your face around here before!"

Henry blinked before turning around to face the stranger. Trying not to frighten her, he tried for a polite smile. It felt stiff and unnatural on his face but it was the thought that count. "Hello..." He trailed off awkwardly, not really knowing what else to say as he eyed the little toon critically. It was some sort of ... Goat creature. Or a llama? Maybe a cow?

The little toon gasped lightly in mock surprise. "Oh pardon me! Where are my manners! My name is Mary Lamb!" She finished with a little curtsy.

That explained why she looked so... Fluffy. "Henry." He replied evenly, quickly growing uneasy with the conversation. She gave him a smile and than started talking a mile a minute while he slowly zoned out. He wasn't really a people person; hell, it was a miracle that Joey stuck around long enough for Henry to consider him a friend. His only friend, actually.

Which was kinda depressing once he thought about it.

He blinked before refocusing on Mary again. The little toon was passionately talking about something but he didn't really know what. All he knew for sure was that she had an annoyingly loud voice for such a small thing.

"-And that's how my grandmother died." She finished whatever story she was spewing proudly, like she was talking about the weather and not a deceased family member.

"That's good to hear..." Henry replied distractingly while thinking of an excuse to leave. "Unfortunately, I'm in a hurry to see the uh-"

"Oh! Are you going somewhere?! I'll go with you!" Mary exclaimed as she bounced excitedly.

Henry opened his mouth, ready to tell her to fuck off but thought about her declaration for a moment. She obviously knew more about this city than he did, so that already made her somewhat useful. Plus, she might be able to answer his questions.

"Alright." He answered flatly. "Where should we go first?"

Mary stared at him with wide eyes. "You're asking me?" She asked him in a slightly quiet voice. Henry shrugged, not trusting himself to voice his true opinions out loud.

Apparently that was all the encouragement Mary needed. "Ok! I'll be honored to be your guide!" She chirped before walking forward with determined steps.

Unfortunately she only made it to her third step before tripping over a (grinning) rock and face planting onto the hard ground.

'... Very classy.' Henry thought sarcastically as he watched Mary's little dress fly over her head, revealing polka dotted panties. "You alright?" He asked a few seconds later, making no move to help her.

"O-oh, yes... I'm a-alright." She replied as she clumsily stood up. The little toon daintily patted the dirt off herself and smoothed down her ruffled dress. "Let's go!" She started forward in a much calmer pace.

The two continued exploring the rest of the park for the next twenty minutes. After Henry suggested a change of scenery, they moved on from the park and back into the city.

While on this short tour, Henry asked random questions, trying not to sound too alien or suspicious. Fortunately, Mary wasn't exactly the brightest and answered his questions eagerly.

She seemed somewhat surprised at his more... Elaborate questions. Like why did some animals showed sentience while others cleary do not. She stared off into space for a while and just when he was about to leave her and move on his own, she finally answered:

"I never really thought about that... It's just the way things are..."

She said this in a rather hypnotic and creepy way, but at the same time he could tell that she seemed somewhat scared. Like someone had told her that santa wasn't real.

Thankfully he broke her out of her moment of clarity by asking another question.

He also made a note to himself to try not to ask questions that would make toons have an existential crisis. Or a mental breakdown.

They passed by many stores and tall buildings that all pretty much looked the same to him. He didn't know how Mary seemed to automatically know the difference between each building considering not one of them had a sign, but perhaps the little lamb was more perceptive than he realized; That or it was a toon thing to notice these kind of details.

Either way it was like looking at the same background over and over again. He was actually grateful when Mary suggested they visited her favorite cafe.

Admittedly, he was rather reluctant to spend more... Intimate time with Mary but the little lamb was rather persistant. It was obvious that she didn't have much friends because she seemed rather desperate for his company (at least that was the conclusion Henry came up with). He finally agreed when she offered to buy him lunch.

'I just hope whatever foods they have in this world is actually edible...' Henry thought sullenly as he followed after Mary.

 

Click the link for toon Henry sketches!!!

<https://hystericalmodelover.tumblr.com/image/166931653181>


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry finally meets Bendy...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait

Toon World

 

Henry looked at the bustling and lively cafe with little to no interest, trying his best to read the menu and ignore the stares and whispers around him. 

Damn, these people were nosy.

It didn't help that Mary seemed to be oblivious to his current predicament. She was looking at her own menu, seemingly chattering about anything that came to mind. 

When the waitress came to their table, Mary ordered a fruit salad and a milkshake while Henry ordered tomato soup (that came with some cheese sandwiches) and a smoothie. He frowned when the waitress (which was some type of chipmunk) winked at him and lightly touched his hands when he gave the menu back; at least he was wearing gloves.

The two waited patiently for their food, Mary chatted aimlessly while Henry studied the interior of the building. Nothing too fancy, which he could appreciate; made the whole place feel more homely. It would be perfect if people would stop glancing at him...

"Why is everyone staring at me?" Henry snapped, making Mary jump in her seat. 

The little sheep looked around, finally noticing Henry's predicament and smiled lightly. "Oh, they probably can't help themselves! It's not everyday a human comes here, especially one as beautiful as you!" She replied, as if that was the answer for everything. 

Henry internally grimaced. 'Beautiful, my ass. There's gotta be more than that...' He thought grumpily as he eyed the toons around him. He continued to stare at them and felt triumphant when they quickly looked away. He continued doing this until the waiter came back with their orders.

After they thanked her, Mary immediately started eating while Henry took his time to savor his meal. The saltiness of the grilled cheese went very well with the flavors of the tomato soup. A good combination. 

"Howdy Mary!"

Mary gasped in delight, sending bits of fruit flying everywhere, much to Henry's disgust. "Hey, guys!" The little lamb exclaimed while getting out of her seat and embracing two short... Squirrels? 

As they chatted away Henry guessed that the two were most likely twins; kinda obvious since they looked like each other. He sipped on his smoothie and eyed the newcomers. The two were wearing matching outfits, except one was wearing shorts while the other was wearing a skirt. They each had a picture of an acorn on the front of their shirts.

Yep, definitely squirrels.

"-hey, who's your new friend?" The female twin asked, finally noticing Henry.

"Wha-? Oh! How rude of me!" Mary chuckled softly. "These are my friends, May and Max Acorn!" She turned to face the two squirrels. "You guys, this is Henry; he's a new friend I met at the park."

It took a lot of willpower not grimace at the word 'friend' but Henry sucessfully managed it. Instead of saying hello, he gave the twins a small nod to acknowledge their existence. 

The two toons blushed and whispered amongst themselves, 'like school girls.' Henry thought flatly as he finished off the last drop of soup.

May opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted when the waitress slid a chocolate cake with white frosting in front of Henry. The human blinked in slight desbelief as the chipmunk grinned at him.

"I didn't order this..."

"It's on the house, sweetie." The chipmunk winked as she set down a milkshake next to the dessert. He eyed the red bendy straw warily. It had a string with a note attached to it. "... Thanks..." Henry said eventually. 

"Wow! That was nice of her!" Mary exclaimed when the waitress left. She gave Henry a sly smile. "I think she was flirting with you~" she sang giddily as she returned to her seat. May and Max each pulled out a chair from a nearby table and pushed it to sit on either side of Henry, each giving him amused looks.

Henry frowned as he read the paper on the straw. It was a phone number, presumably the waitress', because who else could it be? 

Unfortunately, he wasn't very fond of sweets. The cake combined with the milkshake would raise his blood sugar higher than a kite. Nope, he wasn't risking it. 

He was about to offer the dessert to Mary when suddenly the entire cafe went deadly silent. Henry looked up just in time to see the front door open, bells jingling merrily despite the sudden tense and wary atmosphere.

The silence was the first sign that something weird was going on. It wasn't the same silence when he entered the room, considering everyone was tensed up like a bomb was about to go off. The second sign was that everyone seemed to be staring at something. 

'Or, someone...' His mind supplied unhelpfully as he finally noticed the small smiling figure standing in the doorway. The 'elephant in the room,' as they say. 

Henry blinked. It was some sort of... Black cat? Dog? No wait, it didn't have a snout, or a nose for that matter. Maybe some type of mutant?

The grinning toon seemed oblivious to its surroundings as it made a beeline towards a table in a corner of the room.... Which was farther away from the rest of them (why didn't he notice that detail before?). 

Henry was kinda impressed by the toon's ability to ignore multiple eyes tracking his movements as they not so subtly looked away when he walked past them. The guy must've been some type of monster to trigger that sort of reaction.

Not that Henry was afraid, hell no, he was more intriuged than anything else right now.

The little toon made it to his destination without a hitch and as soon as he sat his little butt down, the entire place springs back to life; like a switch was turned on.

Henry turned his attention to the three occupants on his table and was rather annoyed that they were back to conversing about their meaningless lives. It was as if what transpired a few seconds ago had never occured.

It was obvious that this has happened more than once, but he was still new to this world. He wanted to know more about this.

"Who's that guy?" Henry interrupted Mary, who was repeating the cheerful tale of her grandmother's death to the twins. The little lamb had the nerve to look confused before blinking three times when he pointedly motioned at the strange toon in the corner. 

Her mouthed formed a small 'o' when she finally realized who he was refering to. "I... I don't really know... He doesn't have a name... At least not from what I've heard of..."

"He's a demon!" May whispered harshly as she leaned forward, prompting Henry to move closer to hear her better. "A monster in disguise! Don't talk to him, don't even look at him or he'll give you bad luck!" She finished ominously.

Henry gave her a look before pointedly glancing at the 'monster'. 

He's seen toddlers more monstrous than that. In fact, if it wasn't for his (obviously) fake smile, Henry would've assumed that the toon was just like everyone else. Compared to him, this little guy was normal.

Max frowned. "I thought he was the devil-"

"Devil. Demon. They're all the same!" May waved her hand dissmissively. Point is: don't interact with him. That guy's nothing but trouble..."

"... Did he actually DO anything personal to you or are you just repeating what other people have been telling you?" Henry remarked flatly. The way the squirrel worded it made it seem like she was retelling a story. He wanted facts not superstitions.

The female twin blushed. "Um... W-well... Uh..." 

That was all the proof Henry needed. It didn't take a genius to know that he certainly wasn't getting reliable information from her. He picked up his untouched cake and milkshake (ignoring Mary and the twins' questions) and headed for the trash... Which was right past the 'demon'. 

At that second he made up his mind. 'Oh, what the hell, why not kill two birds with one stone?' He thought before changing directions.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" Henry asks the 'monster' as he stops in front of the table. 

The small toon looks at him in slight surprise, before nodding his head frantically, as if afraid Henry was going to change his mind if he didn't answer fast enough. 

Henry noticed that the cafe had gone quiet again as he sat down; not that he gave a fuck, but it was annoying to say the least. 

He was about to introduce himself when he realized that the toon was staring at his cake. He wasn't looking at the dessert in hunger or disgust, just... Staring. As if he's never seen food before. 

"Do you want it?" Henry asked, pushing the plate and cup forward a little. It then occured to him that offering a stanger food was kinda... Creepy. 

Too late now...

The 'monster' looked even more surprised which instantly sends up red flags in his head. Maybe he really shouldn't have offered...

"D-do ya really mean that...?" The toon's voice has a strange note to it, which makes Henry tense.

"Yes?"

Quick as lightening the toon reaches across the table and takes the cake and the milkshake. Henry doesn't even have time to blink before the demon has already taken a tentative bite and a small sip from the straw.

He stared at Henry as if to say 'that's right asshole, I took it', which almost made him smile.

"So you have a name or...?" Henry stopped and stared at the toon expectantly while drumming his fingers across the table.

The little guy stares at the straw for a second before answering. "People call me monster." He offered offhandedly, as if that was a reasonable answer.

The hell? "Do you want to be called monster?" He asks instead.

Small shoulders shrug. "It's what people have called me my entire existence, so why not?"

Existence? So he wasn't born, or what? "People have called me heartless; doesn't make it my name." He replied flatly.

"Are ya heartless?"

"Hell yeah, but it's still not my name." Henry responds easily as he raises a brow. "Why not give yourself a new name?"

The toon gives him a suspicious look as he finishes up his milkshake. "I've read in stories that parents are suppose ta name ya..."

Fuck, Henry can see where this was going. "Well, sometimes people change their names when they get older. Why don't you try that?" 

The toon plays with the red straw distractedly. "... Do you know any good names...?" He asks cautiously.

"Uh... How about, Bob or Steve or Alfred?" He squints as he tries to remember more names. "Greg, Arthur, Matthew, Stuart, Donald, Walter, Andrew..." He pauses and stares at the toon playing with the flexible bendy straw. "...Bendy..." He says in a light tone, clearly meant for joking.

The toon sharply looks up, attention solely on Henry. "What was that last one?"

"... Bendy?" He repeats, leaning slightly away to put more distance between them.

The small toon stares at the table, hands shaking slightly. "... Bendy..."

"You like that one? Okay, as long as you actually like it, than there's no problem..." Except for the fact that it was weird. "So... Bendy..?"

"Demon."

"What?"

"... That's what I want to be my full name." He remarks offhandedly. "Bendy the Demon... Does that sound... Nice..?" He gives Henry a slightly desperate look.

Bendy the Demon, huh? Well, that sounded better than his name that's for damn sure. "Yeah... It's nice." He replies easily.

'Bendy' gives him a smile that actually looks real instead of the fake one he wore before.

"... Thank you." Bendy says, grin full of sharp teeth.

Yeah, that wasn't scary or freaky at all....

One thing's for sure... Bendy's the most interesting character he's met so far.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any questions, concerns, or just want to say hello, please do not hesitate to leave a comment:)


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